


talk too much

by antheeia



Series: How you said "I love you" (without saying it) [1]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Semi-Love Declaration, bonding moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antheeia/pseuds/antheeia
Summary: Daisuke always talks too much, he's inappropriate and sometimes even nosy — but Ken doesn't really mind.





	talk too much

That Tuesday, Daisuke really didn't want to risk arriving home early: he felt restless and a bit blue, so he took the long way home as he came back from his football training, bag over the shoulder and a purposefully slow pace. Keeping his body busy always helped taking loads off his mind — that was probably why he was always in such a relaxed mood.

As he walked along the riverside, he saw Ken sitting on the grass, alone, facing the water with his back turned to the street; one of his arms was stretched behind him and he leaned on it, but Daisuke couldn't see the other hand, which was probably holding something. ‘ _A book maybe?_ ’ He stepped closer until it was clear that it couldn't be a book, but something smaller, and that Ken wasn't looking at whatever it was but at the water. It was pretty clear, at that point, that Daisuke was intruding, that his presence was out of place: he understood that, and yet his curiosity wouldn't let him walk away. He certainly wasn't the definition of an inquisitive person, but he was the most curious of all when it came to Ken Ichijouji, his former evolution partner, and undoubtedly, his best friend.

Ken was a reserved person: for most people, it was difficult to understand what went through his mind, and his attitude made it even harder to communicate with him. Due to his shyness, getting through to him seemed to be a task that not everyone could handle. But for Daisuke, all of that somehow came naturally: he looked at his friend and he knew what Ken was feeling, just like that. Sometimes it was harder to tell, sometimes Ichijouji was so confused that not even he himself knew what he was feeling, and Daisuke felt lost. But they always managed to find each other in the end: they were  _partners_ after all.

Daisuke sometimes wondered if they had somehow always been destined to be partners in the jogress evolution and that was the reason why they went along so well, or if it was thanks to the way they understood each other so completely that the evolution itself had ever been possible. It didn't really matter much — what mattered was that they had something special, and the fact that he could reach a level of understanding with Ken that no one else could made Daisuke incredibly proud.

In that moment, his friend was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the other’s presence, or maybe he was purposefully ignoring it. Instead, he seemed focused on the constant flow of the river, which the setting sun was starting to paint with pinks and oranges. The image made up by Ken sitting on the grass of the riverside, apparently unaware of his presence, was so beautiful and fascinating to Daisuke, maybe because it felt very intimate, like stepping in Ken’s thoughts all of sudden and getting a faint glimpse of his true self.

Of course, that moment was not comparable to the unique feeling that he always remembered with a stinging pinch of what he thought of as nostalgia — even if it unquestionably felt more like homesickness — when their digimons jogress evolved and he felt Ken's heart beat together with his own, their thoughts synchronising like they were one; and it only lasted for a moment, but it was like their minds touched and he felt the essence of Ken Ichijouji.

He felt selfish as he did, but Daisuke wished they could jogress evolve again, even just once. Because under all his shyness, his stubborn standoffish attitude, Ken was utterly beautiful: he was gentle, soft, loving; it was hard to believe something was able to corrupt that kind soul to the point of making him into the Digimon Kaiser, but it was easy to imagine the burden he still carried, and Daisuke often found himself wishing he could take that burden, or at least part of it, and help Ken carry it till the end of time. He knew he couldn't, that it wasn't his place, exactly like he knew it was not his place to intrude on that moment of solitude; but Daisuke was not the most contemplative of people, and sometimes, even if he knew that his way to go about things was not the most delicate, he just didn't know what to do otherwise, and couldn't stand doing nothing.

For the same reasons, he stepped towards Ken, intruding on his lonely meditation, and when he got close enough and got a glimpse of his friend’s expression — his eyes half closed, his lips narrowed and his bottom lip slightly jutting out — and he saw the digivice he was holding in his hand, Daisuke understood what that sad face was all about, because he felt the same way. After all that time together, it was hard being separated by their digital friends, even if they knew it was just for a while; sometimes, when he was lost in thought, he found himself saying something to Vee-mon, before realising he wasn't there anymore.

"I miss them too, you know?" he said, sitting down next to his friend and putting his bag down on the grass near him.

Ken didn’t flinch, he didn’t look surprised, nor annoyed, as Daisuke thought he might be. He seemed to have recognized him even before he got close, as he just quietly turned towards Daisuke and showed him a tiny smile, lips slightly parted. Their eyes met for a moment, then Ken looked away, bowing his head. He sighed and stayed silent for a moment, his eyes inspecting the water like he thought it would give him some kind of answer, before speaking, quietly. “I know that we will see them again, but I can't help but miss being with him all the time."

Daisuke stared at his friend, in one of those rare instances in which he felt like he didn't want to say something and ruin the moment: having Ken opening up to him of his own initiative was always an event he cherished among the most precious of his memories. He sat down next to him, his eyes never looking away. From that perspective — sitting in a position slightly lower than him on the riverside and looking up towards him — the setting sun’s rays filtered through Ken’s tidy hair, they framed his whole figure and made him look almost ethereal.

"I'm glad that I still have you," Ken whispered, his voice soft like his expression.

"Of course you have me,” Daisuke replied with a big smile, leaning closer to him, “we're partners! You’ll never get rid of me!"

Ken couldn't help but smile back, his face lighting up because Daisuke always had that effect on him, even if he was clumsy and had a talent for saying the right thing at the wrong time, or the _wrong_ thing at the wrong time — he really just talked too much, but that was what made him _Daisuke_.

"You're always so straightforward, Motomiya-kun," Ken grumbled jokingly, shaking his head. Daisuke giggled and rested his forehead against Ken’s, his usual bold smile painted on his lips. They stared at each other for a short while, but uneasiness soon filled the sides of Ichijouji’s smile as he realised how close their faces were and he blushed, averting his gaze and straightening his back, putting some distance between them.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and even Daisuke had to look away, rubbing his neck, in one of the rare instances when he happened to think about what to say — embarrassment did that to him. A surprisingly talkative Ken spared him the effort, with a thin, hesitating voice. "You’re straightforward, but you're also right. Most of the time."

"What do you mean ‘most of the time’?!" Daisuke pouted, lifting his chin and wearing his best sullen expression like he had just instantly forgotten all the embarrassment from seconds before. Ken was baffled at first, but it didn’t take long until the pout started turning in an amused grimace and they both burst out in a laughter that broke the tension.

Ken seemed to relax, after that; his hand brushed against Daisuke's, and their fingers intertwined. Ichijouji still wouldn't look him in the eyes and his flushing cheeks seemed to only get redder, but Daisuke thought that the unexpected shy grip on his hand felt warm like a thank you, and precious like a sweet promise; the same warmth filled his chest, and for a moment he thought he could once again feel Ken’s heartbeat accelerating together with his own.

"I’ll always be there for you, no matter what,” he whispered. The words just came out of his lips before he could realize that he wanted to say them and for a moment he expected to be pushed away or, even worse, ignored by a creeped-out Ichijouji. But nothing like that happened: instead, Ken stayed silent for a long moment, like he was pondering over it, then tightened the grip on his friend's hand.

"You promise?” he murmured, his voice trembling slightly under the weight of the meaning that the words had to him.

“I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Based on prompt #06 ("on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in your hair") from [this list](http://trash-by-vouge.tumblr.com/post/132858041745/the-way-you-said-i-love-you).  
> Part of a personal project based on this list that consists of writing a number of short fics with these prompts but without making the characters explicitly say "I love you" to each other.  
>   
> Please, also check out the [extremely cute fanart](https://kindnessemitsagoldenlight.tumblr.com/post/172491241999/inspired-by-anthwritess-talk-too-much) inspired by this work that [the_rest_is_silence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_rest_is_silence) drew!


End file.
